


this will all blow over in time.

by violawrites



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Drabble, Heavy Angst, Memory Charms, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Missing Scene, POV Hermione Granger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violawrites/pseuds/violawrites
Summary: It was a strange thing, she thought, to watch yourself vanish.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	this will all blow over in time.

The room was bare, or so it seemed to her in the absence of her belongings that had been there only minutes before. The hot July sunlight filtered in through the window that looked out onto the back garden as if trying to bring the contrast into stark relief. Faded square spaces on the wall where frames had once hung, empty bookshelves and dresser drawers. In fact, the only evidence that anyone had ever occupied the room was the girl sitting on the bed, a small beaded bag next to her while her wand rested in her hand, and even the girl would be gone soon.

She’d been planning her departure for weeks now, though in truth she’d known what would have to be done for far longer than that. The situation had only become more urgent since the end of June, and the night a group of Death Eaters had gotten brazen enough to enter 𝑯𝑶𝑮𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑺. Death Eaters who she had no doubt would now waste little time in showing the wizarding world exactly what they thought of muggle-borns. It was only a matter of time before they began to go after them even more openly.

That threat alone had been enough for her to know that she needed to find a way to protect her parents. The target that was on her own back because of her blood status and the fact that she was friends with 𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹 was on her parents, too.

She’d considered simply sending them away, trying to convince them to leave and go somewhere far enough away that it would be safe. Over the years she hadn’t been precisely honest with them about how dangerous things could be for a muggle-born and if she started now, if she told them how dire things truly were at the moment it would only cause them to worry for her. Likely they would insist on not leaving without their daughter and she could never stay; not when she knew her friends were depending on her elsewhere.

The 𝑶𝑹𝑫𝑬𝑹 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑯𝑶𝑬𝑵𝑰𝑿 might be willing to help hide them, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask when it felt like too much of a burden to lay on the Weasleys and others who had helped her so much already over the years. Her parents would have to be her own responsibility. And anyway, were there any safe places to hide?

It left her with only one choice. And, faced with one of the most difficult tasks she would ever have to do, she buried herself within the comfort of her books as she always did. 𝑬𝑿𝑻𝑹𝑬𝑴𝑬 𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺 had nothing on the subject at all, and 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑴𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑫𝑬𝑭𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑫𝑬𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑹𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 was for once woefully lacking. The entry in 𝑨𝑪𝑯𝑰𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑺 𝑰𝑵 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮 was rather less helpful than she would have liked.

𝑴𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑹𝒀 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑴𝑺

> 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘙𝘢𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 1591, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮, 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘖𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘖𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘨𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.
> 
> 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳.
> 
> 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

Eventually she had found what she was looking for, though having the knowledge didn’t put her at ease as much as she had hoped. Doubts crept into her mind each night she spent at home, and though she had never been one to procrastinate before, she found herself putting off doing what was inevitable. Two whole weeks went by before she finally plucked up the courage, packing her bedroom up with a few waves of her wand.

Her parents were downstairs, sitting on the couch next to each other while they had tea. Making her way cautiously down the steps, she avoided the one third from the top that creaked, then paused. Not for the first time she wondered if she was doing the right thing. Was she any better than the Death Eaters when she was about to turn them into different people without them knowing? Erasing their only child from their memories? She told herself again that it was the only way to keep them safe. It was better to have them alive and furious at her then not to have them at all.

The photographs that hung on the wall going up the stairway caught her eye. Still images, so unlike the magical ones she’d become increasingly used to, that showed the three of them. With a sigh she raised her wand and the small bushy haired girl who’d been there just moments before was gone. There was no one splashing in the water at the beach, no one blowing out the candles on her birthday cake next to beaming parents. It was a strange thing, she thought, to watch yourself vanish.

For only a few seconds she indulged herself by taking one last look at her parents, afraid that if she lingered any longer she might lose her nerve. There was every chance that she wouldn’t survive the hunt for Horcruxes that they were about to start, and this would be the last memory she had of them.

She steadied her wand hand as she raised it, trying to focus on what her books had told her about proper technique and theory for the spell and not on the consequences of what she was about to do. Her eyes were swimming with tears as the light shot out from the end of her wand and she watched as it hit them squarely in the back. Though she could see no visible difference, she knew they were now 𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑳𝑳 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑴𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑺, whose life's ambition it was to move to Australia, just as she had planned. Wendell and Monica Wilkins, who had no daughter.

She crept noiselessly out the back door and into the garden, knowing that she needed to leave as quickly as she could before she was seen. There would be time to mourn later. She couldn’t allow herself the luxury of grief just yet.

“I’m so sorry.” She murmured to no one, her voice sounding small and fragile to her own ears. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus once again. Apparition was complicated magic and any break in her concentration could be disastrous. Destination, determination, and deliberation. She closed her eyes and turned on the spot as she pictured her destination. 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑼𝑹𝑹𝑶𝑾.


End file.
